Amritsar, June 25 – A day after SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar declared ban on carrying three feet or long kirpan in the Shri Darbar Sahib complex, Amritsar on anniversary day of June 1984 every year, the SGPC on 25th June now took U-turn saying that it had not imposed a ban on carrying ‘kirpan’ at Akal Takht during the Operation Bluestar anniversary celebrations.
The clarification comes a day after reports in a section of the media that the SGPC had banned 3-ft long kirpans at Akal Takht in view of the clash between the SGPC task force and radical Sikh outfits on June 6. Additional SGPC secretary Diljeet Singh Bedi said any Sikh could visit Akal Takht while wearing a kirpan. He said it was the primary duty of the SGPC to maintain the Akal Takht ‘maryada’. He said nobody would be allowed to unsheath swords and resort to hooliganism at Akal Takht.
The SGPC move to ban kirpans had drawn a flak from Sikh organisations, who termed it as “anti-Panthic.” Talking to The Tribune, SGPC member Bibi Kiranjot Kaur said that non-baptised Sikhs should not be allowed to carry a 3ft-long kirpan at Akal Takht but there should be no such ban on baptised Sikhs.
Here is the video where SGPC President Makkar yesterday gave a statement of stopping Sikhs to carry 3-foot long kirpans.
Noted Sikh scholar Ashok Singh Bagrian said the move was “devoid” of wisdom. “If we ourselves ban the kirpan at Akal Takht, how then will we stop foreign countries from imposing such a ban on the Sikhs,” he asked. He said the SGPC should rather initiate steps to ensure that the sanctity of the Operation Bluestar anniversary was maintained. He said neither speeches nor sloganeering should be allowed.
The All-India Sikh Students Federation (Peermohammed) chief, Karnail Singh Peermohammed, said the SGPC stand was unprincipled. He demanded that SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar should apologise to the Sikh community. “By making such an announcement, the SGPC is itself attacking the religious rights of the Sikhs.
Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said the step was “unprincipled, anti-Panthic and anti-tradition”. He said the community was astonished to learn that the SGPC chief had announced a ban on the religious symbol (kirpan) and that too at a religious place (Akal Takht). “Makkar should apologise,” he said.
Source: TNS